Letter from Salisbury, London, and Amsterdam
Hello All!!!
So, this is our update letter covering the above cities. No pics today, sorry.....we're using an internet cafe, but didn't bring the camera card reading utility device thingy.
In Salisbury, we stayed at a youth hostel, and we booked a guided tour to see Stonehenge! It was awesome, with lots of information and even Scooter got a pic with the rocks. After we returned to Salisbury, we visited Salisbury Cathedral, which has the tallest spire of any cathedral in the UK. While we were there, we participated in a service that was going on for the ordination of some Deacons. Dan had communion and we heard both the choir and the organ and sang some hymns too! We also found out that David Willcocks (who writes some amazing descants for hymn tunes such as Adeste Fideles) was the organist at Salisbury in the past. Dan nearly wet his pants when he saw that he was so excited! After our visit, we went to get some picnic food (cheap!) and had a nice picnic on the lawn of the Cathedral. There was a wedding on at the Cathedral, so we got to see all the pretty people in their outfits and Rolls Royce's pull up. It was neat.
The next morning, (Dan's 30th birthday!!!!!) we were up in good time to catch the train to London. We were both very excited and it was only a 2 hour journey, so that was good! When we got to London, we realized that the walk to the hostel would be very substantial. But it was a nice day, so we started out. We walked past Big Ben (the bell in the tower), WEstminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace, and 3 parks! By the time we got to the hostel, we had walked approx 10 km and were exhausted!!!! But it was only 2:30 pm and we wanted to get out and see a bit of the city, so we went and grabbed another picnic lunch, sat in Kensington Gardens and watched the many planes fly overhead on their way into Heathrow. Then we went for a long walk, called Dan's parents and Katie's parents and headed back to the hostel. On the 3rd, we jampacked the whole city into one day! We took our first cab to St. Paul's Cathedral (on the other side of the city) and took a peek inside. Then we crossed over the Millenium Bridge by the Thames and walked to the British Airways London Eye! We got on straight away and had a great view. The weather has cooperated very well since we've left Iona:) After our 'flight', we walked across Westminster Bridge by Parliament, with the intent of visiting Westminster Abbey. Unfortunately, it was closed until 2:00pm, so we went and met Tammy at the Trafalgar Tours office, picked up our documents for our tour, and had some lunch at Pizza Hut. (I know I know....not very British:(. Then, we headed to Trafalgar Square to see Canada House and the lions in the Square. We visited Canada House, saw the gallery there with Canadian photography, and headed back outside. Scooter met one of his distant relatives in the Square (pictures to come soon), and even Dan had some fun with the lion. After we'd had our lion's share of the Square, we headed for another Square, Leicester Square in the heart of the Theatre district to see about half price tickets for a show that evening. We scored some great seats for Les Mis (20th year running!) for 1/2 price!!!! Super! By this time it was almost 2 pm so we headed back to the Abbey. There was a huge queue, but it disappeared quickly and we were in before we knew it. Amazing time here, visiting Elizabeth and Mary I, Mary, Queen of Scots, Handel, Shakespeare (Memorial), Churchill, and Newton among many many others. From here, we grabbed a cab to the Tower of London. Had an awesome tour here with a surprisingly very genuinely funny tour guide. Saw the crown jewels, the White Tower, and the Bloody Tower. Then, we grabbed a cab back to Leicester Square for our show. It was incredible. Katie had never seen it before, but Dan has seen it twice. Dan says that this performance easily compared to the other 2 and he thought it was excellent. We even met a couple from London, ON and Adam is a pilot!!! Small world huh? After the show, we grabbed a cab to the hostel and headed for bed.
The morning of the 4th, we were up super early because our tour left from the Trafalgar Tours office at 6:30 am! We got there in plenty of time, met Wim, our tour director, and got loaded onto the bus. There are 24 people altogether on the tour and they all seem very nice. Surprisingly, there are 13 South Pacific types. There are also 4 Canadians, and the rest are Americans. We headed for Dover and crossed the English Channel on a very large ferry. When we arrived in Calais, France, we boarded our tour bus (that we'll have for the duration) and began the trek to Amsterdam. On the way, we passed through Belgium and Flanders Fields. When we were getting close to the hotel, Wim was telling us about the hotel we'd be in for two nights. To Dan's happy surprise, we found out that our hotel was to be at the Schipol Airport!!!! He giggled all the rest of the way:) We arrived at the hotel, checked in and had a great dinner. After dinner, we walked over to a McDonald's to see if you could see the runway from there. Not only could you see the runway, but the planes were using that runway for every take off and there was a huge viewing platform outside for the general public. We sat there for a good hour watching planes and guessing their types. It was pretty cool and cold!
Today, we've been to a cheese and clog factory near Volendam (Dan is sure that he was there 14 years ago!). We got some cheese samples (yummy!:) and tried on some clogs. Even Scooter tried on a pair (but they didn't fit:). Then we visited the town of Volendam (a large tourist trap), a very pretty little fishing village. We saw a great example of a dyke keeping the water from flooding the town. Then, we headed for Amsterdam and the Gassan Diamond Factory. We saw how diamonds are cut, polished and sold. They showed us a bunch of examples of different carat, colour, clarity, and cuts. We even saw a brown diamond (pretty rare). Nobody bought any though as the cheapest one sold was going for E12,000 (or $15,000 Cdn!). Needless to say, Dan was very excited that he had proposed BEFORE we visited this factory:).
Since then, we've been walking around Amsterdam, enjoying the sights, smells ;), and sunshine. We're off to meet the bus soon to head back to the hotel. Tomorrow, we're off to Cologne (to see some wise men:), and the Rhine River for our cruise.
So, this is our update letter covering the above cities. No pics today, sorry.....we're using an internet cafe, but didn't bring the camera card reading utility device thingy.
In Salisbury, we stayed at a youth hostel, and we booked a guided tour to see Stonehenge! It was awesome, with lots of information and even Scooter got a pic with the rocks. After we returned to Salisbury, we visited Salisbury Cathedral, which has the tallest spire of any cathedral in the UK. While we were there, we participated in a service that was going on for the ordination of some Deacons. Dan had communion and we heard both the choir and the organ and sang some hymns too! We also found out that David Willcocks (who writes some amazing descants for hymn tunes such as Adeste Fideles) was the organist at Salisbury in the past. Dan nearly wet his pants when he saw that he was so excited! After our visit, we went to get some picnic food (cheap!) and had a nice picnic on the lawn of the Cathedral. There was a wedding on at the Cathedral, so we got to see all the pretty people in their outfits and Rolls Royce's pull up. It was neat.
The next morning, (Dan's 30th birthday!!!!!) we were up in good time to catch the train to London. We were both very excited and it was only a 2 hour journey, so that was good! When we got to London, we realized that the walk to the hostel would be very substantial. But it was a nice day, so we started out. We walked past Big Ben (the bell in the tower), WEstminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace, and 3 parks! By the time we got to the hostel, we had walked approx 10 km and were exhausted!!!! But it was only 2:30 pm and we wanted to get out and see a bit of the city, so we went and grabbed another picnic lunch, sat in Kensington Gardens and watched the many planes fly overhead on their way into Heathrow. Then we went for a long walk, called Dan's parents and Katie's parents and headed back to the hostel. On the 3rd, we jampacked the whole city into one day! We took our first cab to St. Paul's Cathedral (on the other side of the city) and took a peek inside. Then we crossed over the Millenium Bridge by the Thames and walked to the British Airways London Eye! We got on straight away and had a great view. The weather has cooperated very well since we've left Iona:) After our 'flight', we walked across Westminster Bridge by Parliament, with the intent of visiting Westminster Abbey. Unfortunately, it was closed until 2:00pm, so we went and met Tammy at the Trafalgar Tours office, picked up our documents for our tour, and had some lunch at Pizza Hut. (I know I know....not very British:(. Then, we headed to Trafalgar Square to see Canada House and the lions in the Square. We visited Canada House, saw the gallery there with Canadian photography, and headed back outside. Scooter met one of his distant relatives in the Square (pictures to come soon), and even Dan had some fun with the lion. After we'd had our lion's share of the Square, we headed for another Square, Leicester Square in the heart of the Theatre district to see about half price tickets for a show that evening. We scored some great seats for Les Mis (20th year running!) for 1/2 price!!!! Super! By this time it was almost 2 pm so we headed back to the Abbey. There was a huge queue, but it disappeared quickly and we were in before we knew it. Amazing time here, visiting Elizabeth and Mary I, Mary, Queen of Scots, Handel, Shakespeare (Memorial), Churchill, and Newton among many many others. From here, we grabbed a cab to the Tower of London. Had an awesome tour here with a surprisingly very genuinely funny tour guide. Saw the crown jewels, the White Tower, and the Bloody Tower. Then, we grabbed a cab back to Leicester Square for our show. It was incredible. Katie had never seen it before, but Dan has seen it twice. Dan says that this performance easily compared to the other 2 and he thought it was excellent. We even met a couple from London, ON and Adam is a pilot!!! Small world huh? After the show, we grabbed a cab to the hostel and headed for bed.
The morning of the 4th, we were up super early because our tour left from the Trafalgar Tours office at 6:30 am! We got there in plenty of time, met Wim, our tour director, and got loaded onto the bus. There are 24 people altogether on the tour and they all seem very nice. Surprisingly, there are 13 South Pacific types. There are also 4 Canadians, and the rest are Americans. We headed for Dover and crossed the English Channel on a very large ferry. When we arrived in Calais, France, we boarded our tour bus (that we'll have for the duration) and began the trek to Amsterdam. On the way, we passed through Belgium and Flanders Fields. When we were getting close to the hotel, Wim was telling us about the hotel we'd be in for two nights. To Dan's happy surprise, we found out that our hotel was to be at the Schipol Airport!!!! He giggled all the rest of the way:) We arrived at the hotel, checked in and had a great dinner. After dinner, we walked over to a McDonald's to see if you could see the runway from there. Not only could you see the runway, but the planes were using that runway for every take off and there was a huge viewing platform outside for the general public. We sat there for a good hour watching planes and guessing their types. It was pretty cool and cold!
Today, we've been to a cheese and clog factory near Volendam (Dan is sure that he was there 14 years ago!). We got some cheese samples (yummy!:) and tried on some clogs. Even Scooter tried on a pair (but they didn't fit:). Then we visited the town of Volendam (a large tourist trap), a very pretty little fishing village. We saw a great example of a dyke keeping the water from flooding the town. Then, we headed for Amsterdam and the Gassan Diamond Factory. We saw how diamonds are cut, polished and sold. They showed us a bunch of examples of different carat, colour, clarity, and cuts. We even saw a brown diamond (pretty rare). Nobody bought any though as the cheapest one sold was going for E12,000 (or $15,000 Cdn!). Needless to say, Dan was very excited that he had proposed BEFORE we visited this factory:).
Since then, we've been walking around Amsterdam, enjoying the sights, smells ;), and sunshine. We're off to meet the bus soon to head back to the hotel. Tomorrow, we're off to Cologne (to see some wise men:), and the Rhine River for our cruise.
posted by Daniel Pergau | 10:09 a.m.
1 Comments:
Happy belated 30th old man ;)
What an adventure you're having (and Les Mis is my all-time favourite musical), can't wait for the pictures!
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